Jun 10, 2008, 11:20 GMT
Tokyo - As Tomohiro Kato gave up on life, his despair turned into a horrendous stabbing rampage on joyous, relaxed shoppers on Tokyo streets Sunday.
A pool of blood is seen on the road while the police lab team investigates the crime scene in Akihabara district, a busy shopping area famous for the electric goods, central Tokyo, Japan, 08 June 2008.EPA/DAI KUROKAWA
'I'm tired of life,' was the reason for Kato to go out to randomly stab 17 people, killing seven and injuring others.
Kato, 25, was not the only one whose motive for random murders lay in hopelessness and a desire to end their lives, experts say. Some turn to kill themselves by suicide, and others turn their desire to die against strangers. In Japan, the state conducts the death penalty by hanging.
Before he drove to popular electronics' town Akihabara Sunday, the car-parts' factory worker had sent messages to his friends in 2006 telling them his plan to commit suicide.
He failed in that attempt because his car was too sturdy, Japan's daily Asahi Shimbun newspaper quoted Kato's friends as saying.
Exactly seven years ago from Sunday, Mamoru Takuma stabbed eight children to death and injured 18 others in western city of Ikeda. The 37-year-old murderer had wished to end his life with Japan's death penalty, he said when he was sentenced to death.
Takuma got what he wanted within a year of his sentencing, which was unusually quick for the Japanese Justice Ministry to conduct execution after the sentence.
Seiji Otomo, 40, also intended to kill himself when he ran over three people with his truck in 2006 in northern city of Sendai. Police quoted Otomo at the time of arrest that he became desperate and ended up involving strangers.
'Nothing should be used as an excuse (for murder), but we should pay close attention to isolation that many of these perpetrators felt,' Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said in its Tuesday editorial.
Japan's record high number of suicides tells a similar story, it adds. The reason may lie in the lack of social support amidst Japan's increasing urbanization and changes in the labour market as well as social structure.
Those who come from rural regions to work in the metropolis face difficulties forming a social network or simply making new friends. While they hop around temporary jobs and dispatch works to survive day to day, they have little time for socializing.
The traditional family structure is also collapsing. While generations of families shared a household and helped one another, modern-style structures have many living in isolation, leaving them to suffer their anxieties in quiet desperation.
Kato had also written in the bulletin board that he had no friend, according to media reports.
Once he was asked on the website forum to put a price on himself. Kato allegedly wrote, 'I'm worthless. I'm below garbage, though garbage is much more valuable because you can at least recycle it.'
Yukiko Nishihara of Tokyo Suicide Prevention Centre says Kato's messages on the site were a cry for help.
Unfortunately, Kato's feeling of despair and isolation never saw the day of recovery and led him to execute his plan.
Kato posted his contemplated murder plan on the site.
The first message posted at the site at 5:21 am (2000 GMT) Sunday said, 'I will kill people in Akihabara, have a vehicle crash and, if the vehicle becomes useless, I will use a knife.'
The messages kept pouring in until 12:30 pm, 20 minutes before Kato actually drove into Akihabara's pedestrians' paradise, where walking streets are blocked from traffic.
'His notes showed that he wanted someone to take notice of him,' Nishihara said.
In one of the world's safest societies such as Japan, there seems a reason that drives some people into committing heinous crimes such as random killing, experts say.
To prevent further recurrence, police need to examine the root cause of the crime, an Asahi Shimbun newspaper editorial said. Otherwise, questions remain with victims' families and survivors as to why they had to be the target.
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paulJun 13th, 2008 - 10:46:16
The whole of Japan is desperate. I have NEVER seen so much apathy and, yes, stupidity in one country!!!!
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paulJun 13th, 2008 - 10:46:16
The whole of Japan is desperate. I have NEVER seen so much apathy and, yes, stupidity in one country!!!!
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